American's tend to look towards the Clint Eastwood westerns for "gritty realism," in their westerns, yet here is a film that is more realistic than any of Clint's with the exception of Unforgiven.
In his role as a former law-man turned bounty hunter, Henry Fonda shines as the voice of life experience trying to imprint itself on the soul of naive, young Anthony Perkins. Fonda gives Perkins advice that police are still given today by law enforcement training. Exchanges like this one are still true today:
Morg Hickman/Fonda: A decent man doesn't want to kill, but if you're gonna shoot, you shoot to kill.
Sheriff Ben Owens/Perkins: How about hittin' them in the arm?
Morg Hickman: That hokey-pokey'll get you killed fast. There're a lot of guys bragging about shooting a gun out of somebody's hand. They're lying. They shot to kill. A wounded man can still kill you.
This is a movie about standing your ground when the majority are against you and learning hard lessons through bitter experience even when the voice of experience is trying to help you avoid having to learn it the hard way.
If you're in the mood for an older western that is truer to life than you might think, this is a movie for you.
In his role as a former law-man turned bounty hunter, Henry Fonda shines as the voice of life experience trying to imprint itself on the soul of naive, young Anthony Perkins. Fonda gives Perkins advice that police are still given today by law enforcement training. Exchanges like this one are still true today:
Morg Hickman/Fonda: A decent man doesn't want to kill, but if you're gonna shoot, you shoot to kill.
Sheriff Ben Owens/Perkins: How about hittin' them in the arm?
Morg Hickman: That hokey-pokey'll get you killed fast. There're a lot of guys bragging about shooting a gun out of somebody's hand. They're lying. They shot to kill. A wounded man can still kill you.
This is a movie about standing your ground when the majority are against you and learning hard lessons through bitter experience even when the voice of experience is trying to help you avoid having to learn it the hard way.
If you're in the mood for an older western that is truer to life than you might think, this is a movie for you.